Sluggish Proteas lose out to England

Succumbing to early pressure, the Proteas netball team were too sluggish in finding their composure yesterday, losing narrowly to England in their last match of the Quad Series at Ellis Park.

After securing a rare victory over the Roses late last year, and holding Australia and New Zealand to their closest defeats in more than two decades in their previous two matches, South Africa had been expected to give the English side another battle in front of a packed home crowd.

They were outplayed from the start, however, and though they managed to dominate the final quarter, the hosts were handed a 52-47 defeat.

While she was satisfied with their allround performance throughout the series, particularly due to a lack of match practice during a lengthy break in the campaign, Proteas coach Norma Plummer admitted her team needed to find more consistency and maintain their intensity in big matches.

“We pulled it back, but the damage was probably done in the second quarter,” said Plummer.

“We can’t have those dips and we’ve just got to be able to hang on in the crunches.”

Goalshooter Lenize Potgieter netted 33 of her 35 attempts for the Proteas, while goalkeeper Phumza Maweni was an anchor on defence, but the hosts were unable to get on top of their opponents and trailed 30-22 at the half-time break.

The South Africans hit back, however, and with captain Bongi Msomi injecting some pace after being reintroduced at centre in the final quarter, they reduced the deficit to three points with around 10 minutes left in the game.

But the home side left themselves with too much work to do in the closing stages, being forced to settle for bottom place in the Quad Series standings.

Earlier yesterday, world champions Australia beat New Zealand to finish top of the table in the four-nation campaign.

England ended second and New Zealand took third place.